Santa brings Belton woman her No. 1 Christmas wish — a chair

Marcella Arnold of Belton, who is quadriplegic, received a new recliner through the Brighter Christmas Fund. It is easier for Arnold to get in and out of her wheelchair from the recliner than from a bed.

Belton - Taped on the wall next to Marcella Arnold's bed is a piece of notebook paper. On it, in hand-written letters is this Bible verse, "Make a joyful noise to the Lord…"

And on Tuesday, this 37-year-old Belton woman did just that when a delivery truck pulled into her parents' driveway around noon. It was a truck from Hampton Furniture in Anderson.

To Arnold, it might as well have been a sleigh with Santa at the helm. For on the back was a brand-new, brown, leather recliner just for her. Hampton Furniture owner Darryl Jewel saw Arnold's story highlighted in the Independent-Mail in relation to the Brighter Christmas Fund and wanted to help her with one of the Christmas wishes she had.

"I read the article, and I was touched by it," Jewel said. "We were looking for a family, for someone to bless this Christmas. And I knew she had the need."

See, Arnold is quadriplegic.

In June 2007, doctors found that she had some swelling on her spine. Within months, the woman who had just finished training at a cosmetology school in Greenville no longer could use her muscles. And her mother, Viola Arnold, needed to quit her job of 19 years at Blair Mills in Belton to stay home and take care of her.

"It's been a long road," Viola Arnold said. "You think when you get older that your kids will be taking care of you, not the other way around."

While they aren't sure what caused it to occur, the swelling has paralyzed Marcella Arnold from the neck down. So most of her day is spent either in her wheelchair or on her hospital bed in her bedroom at her parents' home on Tollison Street in Belton.

"It hurts to sit in my wheelchair so much," Marcella Arnold said.

When her caseworker through Community Long-term Care asked if Arnold would like to ask the Brighter Christmas Fund for some help this holiday, Arnold said OK. On her wish list: a tape recorder, the Bible on tape and a recliner.

She received all those things, plus a shopping trip to Kmart through the Brighter Christmas Fund. With her mother's help, Marcella received some knew clothes, some lotions and a new purse for Christmas.

"When they gave me the voucher for Kmart, I thought that was a lot," Arnold said. "I didn't know they would do so much. I really appreciate the chair. I didn't know it would be so nice."